I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to rakes. More particularly, the present invention relates to a rake assembly that utilizes a sliding spreader to clean the tines of the rake. Known relevant prior art rakes are classified in United States Patent Class 56, subclasses 400.1 and 400.8.
II. Description of the Prior Art
As will be recognized by those skilled in the art, lawn care often involves the use of a rake to collect leaves and other materials. This debris often clogs the tines of conventional rakes. To clean the debris from the rake tines, the user most cease raking and manually remove the debris from the tines. This is a time consuming procedure and it can be troublesome for elderly individuals with physical limitations.
Another problem with conventional yard rakes is the typical fixed width of the rake header and the span of the tines. Often it is desirable to adjust the span of the tines to effectively manipulate the rake around obstacles without undue operator exertion.
However, adjustable rakes need to retain the sturdiness and stability of conventional rakes. Another desirable characteristic of modern rakes is their use of a separable rake handle.
As is well known in the art, rake handles often break with extended use or because of misuse. Modern rakes often employ a separable handle coupled to a conventional rake assembly. Conventional designs often employ a screw on handle with a receiver in the header of the assembly.
Several prior art devices have addressed some of the problems with conventional yard rakes. The known prior art directed to the adjustability of the header widths and tine span generally requires the operator to manipulate the header width while the rake is not in use. U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,243 discloses an adjustable rake that uses a split collar and locking nut arrangement to maintain the tines in a selected orientation relative to the handle of the rake. U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,750 discloses an adjustable rake that uses a removable pin to maintain a selected tine span. In both of these patents, the operator must cease raking to adjust the header position.
The known prior art directed to cleaning rake tines generally uses headers having fixed lengths. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,901,010 and 4,165,598 both disclose self-cleaning rakes with fixed width headers that have automatically activated cleaning members. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,776,158, 4,059,945 and 4,850,185 all show hand actuated cleaners for rakes with fixed width headers.
The most pertinent, known related prior art device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,023. This device combines tine span adjustability with tine cleaning. This patent discloses a sliding cleaner that compresses and cleans the tines simultaneously.
However, the tines of this device do not pivot about a common axis. Instead, the cleaner bends the tines to narrow the tine span when cleaning or compressing the tine span. As a result of this procedure, the cleaner becomes progressively more difficult to operate because of the progressive tine stiffness as the cleaning member is extended.
The known prior art fails to provide an easily manipulatable spreader that yieldably locks into a stored position when not in use. The prior art also fails to provide a spreader that becomes progressively easier to extend and that uses the inherent resistance of a return stroke to temporarily lock the spreader into a storage configuration.
Another advantage lacking in the prior art is a rake assembly that easily couples to conventional yard and household implement handles. Yet another advantageous attribute lacking in the prior art is a rake span that is quickly and efficiently adjustable to accommodate diverse operating parameters.
Therefore it is desirous to provide a self cleaning rake that can be easily fitted to conventional existing or replacement handles. It is also desirable to provide a rake that conveniently secures the spreader in a temporary locked relationship. Further, it is also desirable to provide a rake that quickly adjusts the tine span to permit the operator to avoid immobile obstacles.